About a third of the £594million earmarked for tutoring to help children catch up after Covid lockdowns has not been spent, a BBC inquiry has found.
The government’s National Tutoring Program (NTP) offers private or group tuition outside of school hours.
Schools have to top up all government funds from their own budgets, which some teachers say they can’t afford.
The Government said it had helped millions of children – but Labor called the scheme a “shocking failure”.
Almost £209million of the £594.3million allocated to the NTP for the last two academic years has not been spent, according to a BBC freedom of information request.
Launched in November 2020, the program provides primary and secondary schools with funds to subsidize tutoring. Any money not spent in each academic year is returned to the Treasury.
Charles Barnett, assistant principal at Wensleydale School and Sixth Form, welcomed the original idea but said it “was a very short time before we realized it wasn’t going to work effectively for us”.
“Both costs and impacts, they just didn’t add up for us,” he said. “And then we couldn’t reach enough students with their offer in the way they offered it, and there was just no choice for us as a small rural school to take advantage of that offer.”
The latest data from the Department of Education (DfE) estimates that 66% of schools in England have taken part in the NTP this school year (as of January).
London has the highest participation rate at 73%. The proportion is lowest in the north-east at 62%.
In the school year 21-22, 87% of schools in England took advantage of the programme.
dr Rebecca Montacute, head of research and policy at education organization Sutton Trust, says turnout was higher in cities that already had “many more agencies or charities trying to tutor underprivileged students”.
The NTP covered 75% of the cost of school-based tutoring in the 21-22 school year. This year it delivers 60%. In September, it is expected to drop to 25% for the 2023/24 academic year.
dr Montacute said cutting the subsidy could mean schools either “don’t want to or can’t use” the program.
The government originally aimed for 65% of NTP education to go to disadvantaged students. During the 21-22 academic year, 47% of tuition did so.
Bridget Phillipson MP, Labor shadow education secretary, called the scheme a “shocking failure”.
She said: “The government has failed children during the pandemic and is now failing to prioritize their future, with the result that the learning gap between children with free school meals and those who do not has widened to the widest on record decade.”
Lib Dem education spokeswoman Munira Wilson MP said: “How can the government claim that it is prioritizing upward mobility while leaving the most disadvantaged children behind?”
When the NTP 2020 launched, schools could either work with an outside organization that could provide tutors, or hire an academic mentor who could provide intensive support.
Last year, the DfE introduced a third option – letting schools use their own staff.
“Initially it was ineffective,” said Darren Morgan, head teacher at Kings Road Primary in Manchester. “But when the government moved to a more school-based approach, it was amazing.”
Mr Morgan has used the funds to run math and English catch-up groups during the holidays and after school.
Ria, Owais and Zamzama are in 6th grade at Kings Road Primary. They enjoyed their tutoring sessions.
“I think it changed my learning,” Ria said. “I used to get low scores, but now I get really high scores.”
Zamzama said: “Before the sessions I was very nervous. I was like, ‘What if I don’t do it right or something?’ But now I feel like I have confidence again.”
“Schools went into deficit overnight”
Mr Morgan said his students had made great progress thanks to the NTP, but he understood why others had not used it.
“I’m lucky because I’m part of a big school, so I have more budget,” he said. “But many schools went into the red overnight, including me. Heating costs rose, everything increased. I can understand why it was not possible to participate in the program.”
Although he is a fan of the programme, Mr Morgan said it was unlikely he could afford to continue. He said it would cost his school an extra £35,000 from September if the subsidy drops to 25% – and he would rather end the scheme than lay off a staff member.
dr Montacute said it was understandable that not all funds had been spent “given the challenge of being able to scale such a program amid the pandemic.”
“In the long term, the NTP should be seen as a key part of the school system, specifically to close the educational gap between the poorest and the richest young people,” she added.
Schools Minister Nick Gibb said the program had provided tutoring on an unprecedented scale and “millions of children have benefited”.
“As exam season approaches, I hope this semester that every eligible school will use the program to provide individual or small group tuition to students who need additional help.”
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